Michael Sobell
Sir Michael Sobell(1 November 1892 – 1 September 1993) was a British businessman, a major philanthropist, and a prominent owner/breeder ofthoroughbredracehorses.
Family and childhood
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Sobel (from 1946, Sobell[1]) was born inBoryslav,Galicia,into aJewishfamily; he was the only son of Lewis Sobel and his wife, Esther. His family owned factories in theAustro-Hungarian empireand oil interests atLimburg in Germany,but his parents moved to England in 1903 to escapeantisemitism.The family settled inDalston,east London, where Lewis Sobell set up as a confectioner. From 1903 Michael Sobell attended theCentral Foundation Boys' Schoolon Cowper Street inFinsbury.He married his wife Anne in 1917.
Business career
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At the age of sixteen, with money provided by his father, he set up as an importer of fancy leather accessories. He and his father subsequently worked as leather goods manufacturers.
Sobell made a fortune as a pioneer in electronics through hisRadio & Allied Industries Ltd.,a manufacturer of radio receivers that grew to become one of Britain's largest and most successful manufacturers of television sets. His daughter Netta marriedArnold Weinstockwho joined the company in 1954. In 1961, Sobell's company merged withThe General Electric Company plc(GEC) making the family GEC's largest shareholder.
Thoroughbred horse racing
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An owner and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses, Michael Sobell's first major racing winner wasLondon Cryin the 1958Cambridgeshire Handicap.He hiredGordon Richardsas his racing manager and in 1960, Sobell purchasedBallymacoll Stud,a breeding farm owned byDorothy PagetinCounty Meath,Ireland. Among his racing stable's successes,Admetuswon the 1974Washington, D.C. International StakesatLaurel Park RacecourseinLaurel, Maryland,at the time the most important international race in America. At home, Admetus won thePrince of Wales's Stakesand several races in France including theGrand Prix d'ÉvryandPrix Maurice de Nieuil.He also ownedLancastrian,winner of thePrix Ganay,Reformwhose eleven wins included theChampion StakesandSallust,winner of theSussex Stakes.
In 1979, in partnership with son-in-law Arnold Weinstock, Michael Sobell met with his greatest success with the champion coltTroywhose performances made him 1979'sBritish flat racing Champion Owner.Among Troy's wins were England and Ireland's most prestigious races, theEpsomandIrish Derbys,as well as theBenson & Hedges Gold Cup,and theKing George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.In 1983, Sobell'sfillySun PrincesswonThe Oaksand theSt. Leger Stakes.Prince of Dancedead-heated for the 1988Dewhurst Stakes.
After Gordon Richards retired, Sobell's horses were principally trained byDick HernatWest Ilsleystables inBerkshire,which Sobell owned. In 1982 he sold the stables toQueen Elizabeth IIand thereafter his English-based horses were trained byIan BaldingatKingsclereand also byBarry Hills.His racing colours were pale blue with a yellow and white checked cap. These colours were also carried by the horses owned by Arnold Weinstock after Sobell's death.
Philanthropy
[edit]The nature of Michael Sobell's business led him to become involved in educational and other institutions which advanced science and he served as chairman of the British Technion Committee. In addition, he used his great wealth to set up the Anne and Michael Sobell Trust in 1962 (renamed the Sobell Foundation in 1977) which provided financial support to a variety of benevolent causes including medical, educational, and fitness endeavours. Sobell's foundation supported and raised funds for facilities such asSobell House Hospice,Michael Sobell Sinai School,Michael Sobell Hospice, theBrain Research Trustand the Michael Sobell Sports Centre atFinsbury Park,Islington.[2]The Michael Sobell Leisure Centre inAberdare,South Wales, also carries his name.[3][4][5]
Michael Sobell was knighted in the1972 New Year Honoursbecoming aKnight Bachelor.[6]He died in 1993 aged 100. He bequeathed most of his fortune to his charitable foundation.
References
[edit]- ^"Sobell, Sir Michael (1892–1993)", Richard Davenport-Hines, ODNB,https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/53329,accessed 2019-05-10
- ^Phillips, Jak (23 July 2015)."Historic Sobell Leisure Centre receives major facelift".Healthclub Management.Archivedfrom the original on 20 September 2017.
- ^"Michael Sobell House – Harlington Hospice".Retrieved13 October2024.
- ^"Meta Title".better.org.uk.Retrieved13 October2024.
- ^"The Sobell Foundation".sobellfoundation.org.uk.Retrieved13 October2024.
- ^United Kingdom list:"No. 45554".The London Gazette(Supplement). 31 December 1971. p. 2.
External links
[edit]- [1](a photo of Sobell)
- Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders at the Institute of Neurology, Londonat theWayback Machine(archived 4 April 2004)
- Wright, Howard (1986).The Encyclopedia of Flat Racing.Robert Hale. p. 277.ISBN0-7090-2639-0.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1892 births
- 1993 deaths
- People educated at Central Foundation Boys' School
- 20th-century British businesspeople
- 20th-century English Jews
- British racehorse owners and breeders
- Owners of Prix Ganay winners
- Owners of Epsom Derby winners
- Knights Bachelor
- British men centenarians
- Jewish British philanthropists
- 20th-century British philanthropists
- Burials at Willesden Jewish Cemetery
- People from Dalston
- Jewish centenarians